THE NIGERIAN INDIGENOUS CHICKEN BREEDS: FACTS ABOUT NIGERIAN CHICKEN BREEDS

Trying or attempting to know or identify the local breeds of chicken in Nigeria can be tedious as most are not documented but with our series of research and consultations, we are able to bring to you, in this post, some facts about the indigenous or local chicken breeds in Nigeria.

Nigerian Indigenous Chicken

Terms to Note in this post
Indigenous breeds
They are native chickens of a country that are bred and reared in the same country.
Exotic or foreign breeds
They are chicken breeds from other countries.
Hybrid breeds
They are the offspring or product of crossingor mating local breeds with a foreign breed or mating two different breeds (either local or exotic breeds) together.

The Local chickens in Nigeria are commonly called the Nigerian Indigenous Chicken (NIC), and they are all classified into three breeds based on location.
They are:

1. The Fulani Ecotypes

The Fulani Ecotypes, referred to as heavy ecotypes, are found in the following parts of Nigeria: Sahel and Guinea savannah part of Nigeria, the cattle Kraals and Montane regions of the North. Their mature weights are between 0.9kg and 2.5k

Fulani Ecotype hens
Heavy Ecotype

Fulani Ecotype cocks

2. Igbo Ecotype (Avuke/Ichacha)
This is referred to as the medium ecotypes, are mostly found in the southeastern and southsouth parts of Nigeria. Their mature weights are between 0.85kg and 2kg

Igbo Ecotype (Ichacha/Avuke)
Medium Ecotype

Avuke hen

Ichacha/Avuke hen and chicks

3. Forest savannah(Yoruba)Ecotypes.

The Yoruba Ecotypes are referred to as the light ecotypes, are the local chickens from the western parts of Nigeria. Their mature weight is around 0.68kg to 1.5kg.

Yoruba Ecotype cock
Light Ecotype

Brooding light Ecotype

The difference between these three breeds, is in their body weight at maturity.

The NIC could be classified under
i. Normal feathered breed,
ii. Frizzled feathered breed,
iii. Naked Neck Chickens and
iv. Dwarf Chickens

Frizzle chicken

Naked neck chicken

Dwarf chicken

General Features and Facts About NICs
• They are generally hardy, adapt easily to rural environments, can withstand harsh weather conditions and they adjust easily to fluxes in feed availability.
• They are mostly found in rural and semi-urban places, but they can also be raised by people living in the cities and towns.
• They are self-reliant. These chickens feed themselves by looking for kitchen wastes and leftovers, insects, worms, lizards,plant seeds and leaves.
• They are small in size as well as have slow growth rates.
• Their meat and eggs have good, attractive pigmentation, leanness, tastes and suitability for special local dishes.
• They can hatch their fertile eggs on their own, brood their chicks and are naturally immune to most poultry diseases.
• Age at sexual maturity is between 4-6 months under an extensive system, but will slightly increase if raised in cages.
•They are poor egg producers, as they lay just 45-50 eggs in a year under an extensive management system. It is assumed that the low egg production ability is due to the inadequate supply of balanced feed and social behavior. Hence, if the chickens are raised under improved conditions (adequate feeds, good shelter, proper medication and vaccination), their laying performance might double.
• The light ecotypes chickens lay more eggs than the medium and heavy (Fulani) ecotypes.
•They have good fertility and hatchability rates.
Since their performance in terms of meat and egg production are poor, they are not recommended for commercial purpose. However, farmers can still earn a good income raising and breeding Nigerian Indigenous Chickens if they adopt the intensive or semi-intensive system.

Read: SHARIGROW: THE POULTRY GROWTH BOOSTER

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